The present invention relates to an insecticidal device provided by an insecticide-impregnated open low-density web.
For the housewife, nothing is more upsetting than to watch a parade of ants pass across a kitchen floor into the food storage cabinets. The infestation of insect pests has been a bane to mankind throughout history. Not only do ants present a problem, but other insects are equally repugnant because they are either bothersome, carry organisms which may produce disease, or both. The common housefly is perhaps one of the more frequently observed insect pests. Other common pests include gnats, mosquitoes, moths and cockroaches, but these are just a few of a multitude.
From the very beginning, man has sought means for eradicating insect pests or isolating himself from their presence. Early attempts involved placing sticky substances at locations where the insects would be required to pass. These attempts may have led to the development of the product which we have come to know as "fly paper", which is merely a strip of material covered with a sticky substance. Such a product is described in U.S. Pat. No. 813,196 issued in 1906 to Julius H. Bien. Another means of eradicating insects involved trapping them in insect traps which may include a housing containing an insect attractant and a tacky substance. Such traps have become more and more sophisticated and complex; see U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,958 for a typical example.
Perhaps the most common present-day means of eradication of insects is by application of insecticides, either by vaporization of this material or by its application to a suitable carrier strip or device. Vaporization has its disadvantages in that there is very little control over the dispersal of the insecticide and it may spread into areas where it is not wanted. Vaporization may be accomplished by use of a conventional aerosol dispenser or by means of a plastic strip which exudes insecticide vapors, a popular form of the latter being sold under the trade designation "Shell No Pest Strip" by the Shell Chemical Company. Application of the insecticide to a carrier strip such as a sheet of paper or tape may alleviate the dispersal problem, but it reduces considerably effective quantities of available insecticice.